Changing Course: The Wartime Experiences of a Member of Women’s Royal Naval Service 1939 – 1945

by Roxane Houston

In June 1940 following the Dunkirk evacuations, Britain stood alone. After witnessing the demoralized survivors first hand, Roxane Houston was determined to ‘do her bit’. She volunteered to join the WRNS.

From a comfortable background with a sheltered upbringing, she now began a remarkable, and sometimes difficult journey, set against six years of war. Starting in 1940 at the Royal Naval Air Station at St Merryn in south west England, under seemingly constant attack from the Luftwaffe, via the RNAS at Machrihanish in Scotland, preparing for Combined Operations at Largs and Greenock in the run-up to D-day, thence to Kandy and Colombo, in Ceylon, she did not return home until early 1946.

She met many varied characters, making some lifelong friends, experienced much excitement and great danger, happiness and personal tragedy, and received more than one proposal of marriage. Now, in her twilight years, she revisits those momentous days which tested her and her contemporaries to the full.

Her autobiography is a highly personal, often poignant account of her time as a Wren, which not only gives a fascinating insight into service life, but also reflects the reshaping of her own outlook and attitudes.

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

Reviews

[TheIron Paw]

A well written memoir of a young lady's experience in the Women's Royal Navy during WW II. As well as providing a good description of life in the navy, Houston also provides insight into attitudes of Britons in general during the war and into the social changes brought about by the war. I found her descriptions of the changes to class conciousness brought about by mixing women of all classes in the WRNs particularly interesting. My only concern about this book is that the author may have been wearing rose coloured glasses while writing about gender relations within the navy during this period; I would have expected a fair bit of mysogyny but she mentions only how helpful and accepting the male ratings were. My first impression was that she only said nice things about people, but late in the book she does savage an army colonel (he was not a mysogynist - just an equal opportunity bully).
I would recommend this book for those interested in social aspects of the war as well as the early development of the role of women in the military.